Courting
by Danielle Salvatore
Summary: A early Christmas present for hopelessdream2005. "Damon would go back to trying to steal Elena away from Stefan, and occasionally throwing her a bit of attention when he wasn't focused on Elena." "If it was always going to be Elena, why couldn't he just leave her alone?" One-Shot


Courting

**A/N: A little fluffy one shot I wrote as a Christmas present for hopelessdream2005 (Julie). But I hope everyone else likes it as well :)**

**Love you Julie!**

* * *

**Sunday**

Bonnie McCullough's eyes widened as she stared at the sight before her.

Damon Salvatore stood in front of her, baring a single, red rose in his hand and holding it out to her.

It was a Sunday night, and Bonnie had just gotten home from a movie party at Elena's house when she had discovered Damon waiting for her on her front porch, holding the small gift for her.

Hesitantly, she took it from him, and held it delicately to her nose, giving it a dainty sniff. "Um…Th…thank you Damon", she said in a soft voice, giving him a bright smile.

Secretly, she was dying to ask him why he had randomly decided to go to her house just to give her a rose, but she figured it would be rude. No. She was just going to enjoy the moment while it lasted…as strange as it was.

He shot her a charming smile back. "It was my pleasure, little bird. It gives me great satisfaction to gift flowers to beautiful maidens."

She blushed and nodded. "I love it."

"I'm glad." He then leaned down to kiss her forehead, and before she could say another word, he was gone in a flash.

For a few moments, Bonnie just stood there on her doorstep, her emotions a mixture of both joy and confusion.

Joy, because what had just happened had been extremely romantic, and confusion, because she didn't exactly know WHY it happened.

But….it didn't matter that much anyway, because she assumed everything would go back to how it's always been tomorrow.

Damon would go back to trying to steal Elena away from Stefan, and occasionally throwing her a bit of attention when he wasn't focused on Elena.

Bonnie clenched her small fists a little at the thought, feeling herself get a little angry as she walked into the house.

If it was always going to be Elena, why couldn't he just leave her alone? So that she could at least attempt to move on from him?

It was beyond frustrating. But…at the same time, she wondered how badly she'd miss their little meetings if he did leave her alone.

_All in all_, she thought to herself with a sigh as she placed the rose in a small vase, _I'm a complete, confused mess._

* * *

**Monday**

The second strange encounter happened at Dalcrest College, while Bonnie, Elena, Meredith, and a couple of other girls were decorating the college's large gymnasium for the Christmas dance.

The three friends were having fun and instantly flashbacked to their high school days when they were on the decorating community for several school dances; back in the days where their lives were still relatively normal.

Bonnie had gone outside to get the tinsel she had been asked to bring out of her car and walked smack into a hard body just as she was about to step into the parking lot,

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, falling back, only to be caught by the strong arms of the person she had walked into.

"My little redbird….always a damsel in distress", a velvety, familiar voice laughed.

She shyly looked up at him. "Damon? What are you doing here?"

She was genuinely startled. Damon wasn't the type to just casually hang around any sort of education area…other than to scope out females.

Which, now that she thought about it, could very well be the reason he was here.

"Am I not allowed to visit my favorite little redhead?"

She giggled, obviously flattered by the flirt, but still cautious. "Damon. Be serious."

"I am serious", he replied smoothly, before suddenly looking up at something above them, a slow smirk spreading across his handsome face. "Ahhh mistletoe. I'm sure you're aware of what that means redbird."

Heart pounding a little, Bonnie quickly looked up to where his gaze was at, and there was indeed, mistletoe hanging above them on the doorframe. She frowned at it a little suspiciously. She didn't remember hanging any up there, or seeing any of the other girls do it.

But before she could question it, she suddenly felt Damon's cool lips pressing against her own, and despite her better judgment, she kissed back, weaving her hands through his raven-dark hair.

And….just as she always felt when they kissed, fireworks instantly went off in her mind, and she closed her eyes as the sweetness rushed through her. Strangely, there was almost nothing more calming in the world to her then the feeling of Damon's lips against hers, and she wanted to savor every second of it.

Too soon for her liking, he pulled away from her, giving her one last peck on the lips.

He kept his face close to hers as he whispered his last words.

"See you around, redbird."

And just like that, he was gone. Again.

* * *

**Tuesday**

The third encounter happened on Christmas day.

After she spent all morning with her family, Bonnie had gone over to the boarding house for Christmas dinner. Mrs. Flowers had graciously offered the house to the gang to have dinner together and exchange Christmas gifts.

She smiled as she placed the gifts she had bought for the group into a bag.

It wasn't much, since school has officially put her on a low budget, but it was something. And she had something for everyone.

A new set of journals for Elena, a cook book for Meredith (since having moved in with Alaric and her wedding being only a few weeks away, she was slowly but surely getting into the idea of playing house), a gift certificate for Matt to one of his favorite stores, and a new sweater for Stefan that matched his green eyes.

And then there was the last gift.

Bonnie tucked into carefully into the bottom of the bag. She was unsure if he would even show up at the dinner (actually, she was nearly positive he wouldn't) but she was going to bring it just in case.

After parking her car right outside the front of the boarding house, Bonnie grabbed the bag of Christmas gifts, and cheerfully walked, nearly pranced, up to the doorstep.

But she was stopped by that same, chilling voice that had been popping up at her unexpectedly the last few days.

"Merry Christmas, little bird."

She stopped in her tracks, skidding her feet so much that she made a small amount of snow where she finally regained balance, and then turned sharply towards where the voice came from.

Sure enough, Damon was walking towards her, a small, wrapped box in his right hand, and Bonnie smiled, pleasantly surprised at the fact that he was here.

"I thought you weren't going to come."

"I don't plan on staying", he answered flatly, but shot her a wink as he closed up on her. "I only wished to give you your gift."

"You got me a Christmas present?" Bonnie asked, her brown eyes lighting up. She had seen the little box that he had been carrying, but she hadn't at all expected for it to be for her.

He nodded, and handed her the box wordlessly. She smiled at him as she slowly began to unwrap it. It had been wrapped so prettily wrapped that she almost felt sorry for ruining it, but she was excited.

After the wrapping paper was taken care of, she opened the small jewelry box that contained the mystery present, and gasped a little at what she saw.

Inside the box was a beautiful necklace. It sported a gold chain, and the charm that hung from the middle was a sparrow…with tiny diamond carved into it for the eyes. A little bird.

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears of happiness at the meaningful gift, but she managed to hold them at bay, looking up to shoot the person who had given it to her a big smile. "Thank you Damon…so much. I really love it."

She took it carefully out of the box to put it on, but was stopped by a firm, though gentle hand.

"Allow me."

She giggled and handed him the necklace, relaxing as he went over to stand behind her, and softly pushed her hair back, and carefully placed the necklace around her neck, snapping the clasp closed.

After he was done, he surprised her by pressing his lips to her neck, giving it a soft kiss, before whispering against it.

"I must make my leave now. But merry Christmas Bonnie."

She grinned. "Merry Christmas Damon. And um….here", she said awkwardly, her cheeks flaming red as she dug into the bag she was carrying, handing him the wrapped box she'd been looking for. "I….I got you a present too."

He smirked at her as he took it, obviously pleased about something. "I shall unwrap it as soon as I get the chance."

With one final kiss to her forehead, he walked off, before turning into a crow right before her eyes and taking flight.

She watched him disappear into the night sky for a moment, before sighing, shaking her head as she walked into the boarding house.

Would she ever learn her lesson?

* * *

**Wednesday**

The next day, Bonnie was determined.

She was going to tell Damon that…as much as she felt for him, as much as she _loved_ him, these secret meetings had to stop.

Sure the moments between them were wonderful while they lasted, but they seemed to be making her fall even more in love with him each time….only to make the ache she felt in her heart even greater when she realized Elena would always be first for him.

She couldn't go on like this. She would miss their meetings, but how was she ever supposed to move on when Damon randomly decides to pop in and kiss her whenever he felt like it? No, as hard as it might be, she _had _to move on. And to do that, Damon needed to leave her alone.

She waited on the bench in the park next to Dalcrest College. When she had last seen him, she had asked him to meet her here so that she could tell him something important.

She was nervous. Only, she wasn't sure if it was because of the possibility of him not showing up, or the chance of him actually showing up and having to tell him what was on her mind.

She supposed that either way, she lost something.

"You rang?"

She looked up from her gaze at the ground to see Damon striding over to her, and she stood up, sucking in a deep breath. _Come on McCullough, you can do this._

"Thanks for coming Damon", she said politely but distantly. "I….I need to tell you something."

He crossed his arms over his chest, and silently prodded her with one of his hands to continue.

"I…." She closed her eyes, forcing the words to come out. "Damon, these…meetings between us can't happen anymore." She looked apologetically at him. "I love spending time with you, but I need to be able to move on. I can't do that with you popping up out of nowhere all of the time and kissing me and giving me presents."

There. She got it out. His reaction, however, was not what she expected.

He almost looked….sad for a short moment. But as fast as the look appeared, it was gone, replaced with raised eyebrows, a questioning glance.

"You no longer wish for me to court you? Am I too late to seek your affections?"

_What?! _

Bonnie shook herself out of her confusion. Courting? Seeking her affections? What was he talking about?

"Courting?" She managed lamely.

He narrowed his eyes. "Do you not understand why I've been meeting with you for the last few days?"

His tone implied that it was a simple conclusion that she should have come to, and in result, it only made her feel dumb.

"I…I thought you were just acting like you normally do." She looked down. "It's not the first time you've kissed me without having it lead to anything, you know."

Silence passed between them, before she heard a low chuckle, and then the feeling of his hand gently lifting up her chin to look at him.

"Maybe you should just stop being so hard to resist." He kissed her on the cheek. "I do apologize if any of my actions in the past have caused you any grief, little bird, but hear what I am saying now. Recently, I have come to a realization."

He paused, and her heart began to hammer in her chest. Was this really happening?

"For centuries, I believed what I wanted was a princess of darkness, a queen of the shadows", he looked down at her, stroking her cheek. "But it's really you that I want redbird. It's always been you. Please forgive me for not seeing it sooner."

Bonnie's mind was now a whirlwind of excitement and happiness. Was this really happening, or was it all a wonderful dream? Was Damon really, _finally_ returning her love?

She looked up into his dark eyes, and for once, only seeing clear truth in them. It was all real. He really did want her.

Not wasting another second, she leaped into his arms and pressed her lips to his.

She would never doubt him again.

* * *

**A/N: Eh, the ending was kind of suckish and rushed, but…oh well. I hoped you like it Julie!**

**And in case you're wondering, this idea came to me while skimming through the books again. As much as I loved and adored them, one of the things that kind of bugged me about Bamon was that Damon would kiss Bonnie all of the time and continue to chase Elena, while poor Bonnie was just standing there with feelings for him. Maybe Damon didn't know how strong her feelings for him were, but idk. Now that I think about it, I thought it was kind of insensitive of him. So I thought "What if Damon really did attempt to chase Bonnie, but she didn't realize it because she was so used to him kissing her and having it go nowhere?" And thus, this idea was born :) **


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